First Things First

For much of 2008 we assumed that building would be starting on our "maison principale" and that we would leave "la petite maison" for some future date. But as progress on the house stalled, we thought we'd turn our attention to restoring the cottage.

However, we could not just get underway. Firstly we had to make a case to the powers that be. We needed a "certificat d'urbanisme" which confirms there is a building in existence which can be restored.

Well of course there's a building there - you can see it. Ah, not that simple. The previous owners took the roof down before it fell down. In time, the roofless building was photographed from the sky by the powers that be. At that point, the official cadastral plans were changed and our derelict cottage became no more than a dotted outline. So far as the tax authorities are concerned our cottage is no longer.

However, French bureaucracy can be reassuringly pragmatic and in a region where tourism is needed and gîtes and chambres d'hôtes are in short supply, our roofless, non-existent building could be a future source of income and so the certificat d'urbanisme was forthcoming....

.... on the understanding that we would restore (and not knock down) and any restoration would be in sympathy with the building as it used to be.

Links:

Cadastral plans